Aspiration or Justification?

Random Words from our sponsor, Public.com

All right, options traders, listen up. I want to tell you a bit about Public.com. But first, have you ever actually thought about all the fees you're paying to trade options? Aside from the regulatory fees, there are commissions, and most platforms charge per contract fees, too.

That's what makes today's sponsor Public. Public doesn't charge commissions or pre contract fees, and in an industry first, they offer a rebate of up to 18 cents per option contract traded. Check it out. If you trade 1,000 option contracts on Public, you'll get up to $180 in rebates. If you trade 10,000 contracts, you could earn almost $2,000.

More importantly, the rebate means you can maximize your profits and and minimize your losses. So to recap, no commissions, no per contract fees, and up to 18 cents on every contract traded. See why NerdWallet recently awarded Public five stars for options trading, and start earning up to 18 cents per contract traded only at Public.com.

Paid for by Public Investing. Options not suitable for all investors and carry significant risk. Full disclosures and podcast description U.S. members only. 

Jeff’s Random Words

In a recent Rough Cut podcast episode, we (briefly) celebrated our two year podcast anniversary and looked back on the past 24 months of weekly episodes. One of the questions we asked each other was how having the podcast impacted or changed us as investors. One of my observations was that saying all my thoughts out loud was helpful as I’ve been evolving as an investor.

Well…I have a concrete example to share.

Earlier in the year I stated, more than once, that I was going to try to not sell any stocks for all of 2024. The good news is that I made it to the end of June! The bad news is that I only made it to the end of June. I sold a stock on June 20. Then another on July 24. Then 5 more on August 9.

Why did I fail at my goal? Probably the same reason I usually only exercise and/or diet until mid-January each year. It’s hard to change. But also, the not selling rule wasn’t really a rule. It was aspirational. It was meant to be a point of friction because I haphazardly sold a bunch of stocks at the end of 2023 and almost immediately regretted it.

So do I regret these recent sells? Not really. At least not yet. And I think that’s because I had a much more deliberate and purposeful reason for selling this time. I want to have fewer stocks. Recent conversations, interviews, and podcasts have made it clear that owning so many different stocks when individual stocks are only around 12% of my overall portfolio is kinda silly. Plus, some of the stocks I sold were ones that I had significant exposure to in my retirement accounts (index funds). So I decided to part ways with them in my individual stock portfolio.

As with all investing decisions, I will let you know how they turned out in 5-10 years. But for now, I’m happy to have a few less stocks and the ability to invest more into the remaining stocks in which I have high conviction. 

I still would like to have less stocks. But I’m not in a rush and am trying not to be hasty. My “resolution” for the year is busted, but that doesn’t mean I want the selling floodgates opened. 

The point of all of this is that I think it’s ok to change your mind. I think it’s ok to break a “rule”.

And now I’m curious about you, dear reader. What’s a rule you’ve broken? When’s the last time you changed your mind about your investing process? What has been the result?

Share using the comments feature or by replying to this email and let me know!

Jeff

Jason’s Random Words

We recently recorded an upcoming episode with a special guest, and we talked about the bullshit reasons we can come up with to justify selling stocks. Please remember Jeff’s Random Words above when listening to that episode. I think you’ll get a good chuckle out of it. Thank me later.

Jason